Chaos (2016)

The 2016 Little Hat Book: Chaos is a project for Hats for Happiness Inc, established to raise awareness of mental illness and health in creative ways.

Brimming with stunning images and touching stories, this delightful volume will bring warmth to the heart. You need not be a hat lover, nor into textile, to derive joy from these provocative pages. Ordinary people have expressed their extraordinary stories, feeling and thoughts, told creatively through the means of a hat.

Proceeds from 2016 will enable the development of new tolls to inform and support partners and carers of children undergoing medical procedures with the aim of minimising their psychological trauma.

To Order:

$45 standard $139 limited edition

Please transfer money to:

Hats for Happiness Inc

Bendigo bank

Bsb 633108

Acc 153026190

Email screenshot of payment made.

Otherwise email us if you want to work out another way of payment

Brainstorm (2014)

After the success of the Red Book, we received double the number of entries. In order to accommodate them, along with their touching stories, we decided to change the format size. This book, with its superb photographs, special stories, and inspiring ideas, would make a superb gift for someone seeking something special. Not only is the book beautifully produced, the limited edition includes magical pages of hatmaking materials in different textures. All copies of the Yellow Book were hand stitched and bound in Melbourne by the same artisan as the Red Book.

People who donated their time and skills to this project:

Daniel Bornstein

Hilary Ash

Tahl Swieca

Hats For Happiness (2013)

After receiving a miniature wooden hatblock as the award for her induction into the Millinery Hall of Fame, Waltraud reflected that she was nothing without others: had no-one worn hats, or wanted to make hats, there would have been no award. Thus she realised the award belonged as much to other people as to her, and that it could inspire them to invent small wearable hats, which in turn would aid someone else.

Once the call went out, the hats, which arrived from all over Australia as well as from overseas, were sold in an online auction and monies raised donated to Rotary mental health initiatives.In order to acknowledge the beautiful hats, and the artists’ statements, Waltraud decided to make a book. To maintain the spirit of the project, she chose a local Melbourne artisan bookbinder who hand stitched andbound every single book. The standard and limited editions of the Red Book have sold out.Many people donated their skills and time to make the book happen: